As the westernmost institution in the UNC system, Western Carolina University provides
educational opportunities to residents of the state’s western region and attracts
students from around the globe to explore the area’s vast resources.

At Western Carolina University, we view our admissions process as our opportunity
to build the community that defines our institution. We look for people eager to explore
and ready to redefine success.

Programs and courses at Western Carolina are designed to provide hands-on, applied
experience. Students engage with communities across the region as they practice their
profession in real-world environments.

Western Carolina’s unique mountain location helps fuel a vibrant campus community
with more than 170 student clubs and organizations as well as a busy performing arts
calendar and the campus’s own adventure guide service.

Western Carolina is home to 16 Southern Conference athletic teams with more than 375
student athlete competitors. WCU strives to inspire student-athletes to compete like
champions on the field and in the classroom.

Western Carolina was founded to serve the region it calls home, and that has not changed.
WCU continues to focus on regional development initiatives, engaged service and community
programs. It also partners with alumni and donors to ensure access to higher education
for deserving students in the region and beyond.

Academic Programs & Support

Academic Programs & Support

B.S. B.A.AnthropologyMinorMajor

At Western Carolina University, anthropology students develop a historical perspective
on contemporary society through a series of courses that address the evolution (and
devolution) of societies around the world. With this focus on people, cultures and
human relations, graduates are well prepared for unlimited career possibilities, from
international relations and museum studies to public archaeology, policy and services.
In addition, WCU offers a concentration in forensic anthropology, and students have
access to the campus’s Forensic Osteology Research Station where they are able to
study human decomposition.

What You'll Learn

The WCU Anthropology Program leads students to develop skills in writing and critical
analysis from a cross-cultural perspective. The program is based on the four subfields
of anthropology: sociocultural, linguistic, archaeology and bioanthropology. All majors
are required to take at least one elective in each of these categories. The core curriculum
is composed of the following courses: Origins of Civilization, Comparative Cultural
Systems, and History of Anthropological Theory. Additional opportunities for learning
include the Anthropology Club; Lambda Alpha, the anthropology honor society; the Ethnography
Laboratory, a research facility dedicated to the documentation of cultural life in
the Southern Mountains; and the Western Carolina Human Identification Laboratory,
a fully equipped facility focused on the recovery, storage and analysis of human remains.

Where You'll Go

The goal of the WCU Anthropology Program is to allow students to develop as engaged
citizens who contribute their training and knowledge to a wide variety of personally
and socially fulfilling careers. Accordingly, graduates of the program enter a wide
diversity of career fields in the public, private and government sectors, including
education, academic administration, research, private and corporate consulting, and
museum and library administration. Many go on to graduate school to further explore
their chosen area of study and expand their career possibilities.